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Blog Category 3
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On Sunday, Dave took Kristen and me out on his boat to drop some crab pots. It was an overcast day and not too chilly, so a good day to spend on the water. While we were dropping the pots a humpback whale swam by. It flipped up its tale about 100 feet from our boat. This is the prime time to see humpbacks. I can never grow tired of seeing whales! Once we returned to shore, Kristen and I went to yoga. I was glad to return to class and look forward to Sunday night yoga classes throughout the rest of the season.
The next day, the three of us took out the boat to retrieve our crab pots. We caught 15 dungeness crabs, but were only allowed to keep 6. Out of state residents with fishing licenses can only have 3 crabs in their possession at a time. Dave and I were the only 2 with licenses so we picked the 6 largest crabs and threw the rest back. On the ride back to shore we rode by a rock covered with sea lions (around 30 sea lions). Some of them slipped into the water as we rode by, but most just looked at us suspiciously. We then headed back to my apartment and had a huge crab boil. We also fried some halibut that Dave caught. Life is good. |
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Blog Category 3
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I really wanted to go on a serious hike and had my eye on the Silvis to Deer Mountain trail (the longest marked trail in Ketchikan). Friday afternoon I put my pack on my back and hopped the bus out to George Inlet. My friend and I caught a ride to the end of the road (the trail head). We hiked the 3 miles of switchback trail past lower Silvis to upper Silvis lake. Its a large lake in the mountains. It was getting dark by that point so we set up camp. Given that we live in a rain forest and it had just rained for a few days straight, starting a fire was going to be a challenge. Luckily my friend is an avid backpacker and was able to start a roaring fire with a lot of work and some patience. When we awoke in the morning, we cleaned up camp and filled our water bottles in the lake. We then began the rest of our 15 mile hike. Once we got around Silvis Lake we climbed Northbird Peak, Ron Jones Mountain, and the ridge to Deer Mountain. It was a clear, sunny day so the views were breathtaking. We were above tree line for a majority of the time and the mountaintops were covered with beautiful wild flowers and streams so clean we could drink directly from them. The hike was very challenging involving mostly up and down hills, but when I would get tired all I had to do was look around it would energize me. By the time we got to the bottom of Deer Mountain around 10pm, we were exhausted. After some food and rest we were both feeling extremely rejuvenated. I'm looking forward to doing that hike again next season (if not this season!) |
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Blog Category 3
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This week has been full of many adventures. On Tuesday, my friend and I hiked Deer Mountain. Most of the snow is gone and the views from the top were gorgeous. I've now hiked Deer Mountain three times this season and every time is a different experience with different trail conditions and varying views.
On Wednesday, a small group of us went king fishing. We took the skiff out to Herring Cove and started snagging. I caught one! It was 25 lbs and took about 15-20 minutes to reel in. I'm learning how to catch fish and how to properly reel in (it reminds me of dancing - sometimes you let the fish lead, and sometimes I lead depending on the feel of things). The fish was on the darker side (the skin is darker when they start to turn) so we originally thought the meat would be better for smoking. However, when the chef at George Inlet cut into it, it turned out to be a beautiful piece of meat! We vacuum sealed it and I now have 40 lbs of salmon in my freezer. After catching a king all by myself there was only one thing left on my "must do" list: see a bear. We got in the truck and headed back to town and sure enough there was a large black bear in the road. I got a great view before it headed into the bushes. I could barely sleep that night because I was so excited with my very successful Alaskan day! |
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